I had the pleasure of returning to Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria to check out their new Spring/Summer menu a couple of weeks ago. The menu features two new pizzas and the return of a seasonal favorite. We opted to return to the Bloor Street West location, which opened its doors in 2012 and has become a local spot in the Annex. Famosa is best known for its authentic Neapolitan style cuisine, which makes no apology for their creative menu of fusion pizzas. Dean (the owner) runs two locations with his brother, and he is very passionate about the trade. He explained in details about the journey that they embarked on to bring us this delicate taste of Naples menu that we were able to sample.

We started dinner off with the Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque - roasted Campania tomato soup topped with feta cheese, and served with flatbread. This was one of the highlights of the evening. The bisque was rich with flavor, as the tomatoes hail from Pompeii, Italy. The body of these tomatoes taste stronger, sweeter, and have less acidity in them due to the growing conditions of the volcanic ash that makes up the significant content of the soil. With some added crushed peppers, and Parmesan cheese, the aroma of the bisque was brought to its greatest.

Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria offers a limited menu of seasonal pizzas, which changes every season. The first new pizza that we got to try was the Prawn Pesto ($16.95) - fior-di-latte, seasoned ricotta, sautéed prawns, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, pistachio pesto, lemon wedge. In a departure from the standard pizza toppings, the new pizza is topped off with sautéed prawns, which remarkably makes a very delicious pizza. Out of the three new pizzas on the menu, I'd say that this one was my favorite.

The Mattina ($16.95) - parmesan crema, sautéed leeks, pancetta, prosciutto crisps, Grana Padano, Italian parsley, topped with a fried egg, was the second new pizza on the menu. I didn't like this one as much, but J really liked it.

We were quite stuffed from the two pizzas, but the owner (Dean) graciously brought out a third one for us to try. The third pizza was a returning favorite, the Don Andreas ($16.95) - crème fraîche, fior-di-latte mozzarella, roasted chicken, corn and chipotle salsa, avocado, cilantro, lime wedge, side of Valentina hot sauce. I could definitely see why it was a favorite among patrons. All of the toppings just came together well, and it was one tasty pizza.

Dean has some leeway when it comes to their drinks menu, and tries to be creative with the ingredients. We opted for the non-alcoholic options, which was the Strawberries Mocktail (comes with one free re-frill).

If you're craving pizzas with some creativity and fusion, then make sure you try outFamoso Neapolitan Pizzeria. They do also have standard pizzas like the margherita pizza and pepperoni topped ones if you want safer choices.

Did you know this Thursday, February 9 is National Pizza Day? Here are some interesting facts about Neapolitan Pizza courtesy of Famoso Pizzeria.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Neapolitan Pizza

1. Burn, baby, burn: It’s not just any oven that can create a Neapolitan pizza, and only the right kind gives the soft, moist centre, and perfectly crisp, slightly charred, crust of a true authentic. As such, it’s typically only at a restaurant that you can experience a Neapolitan the way it’s done in Naples. At Famoso, the pizza is fired in an authentic bell-shaped oven, imported from Italy, for 90 seconds at a sizzling 900ºF.

2. I got the key: The crust of an authentic Neapolitan pizza uses a dough that is made with highly refined, Italian type ‘0’ or ‘00’ wheat flour, which refers to the texture of the flour. Type ‘00’ flour, of which the Caputo variety is used at Famoso, is the finest grind available. This highly refined flour is low-gluten, meaning it’s easily digestible, while giving the dough just enough elasticity to create the perfect crust. At Famoso, any of their pizzas - and many other menu options - can be adapted to suit a gluten-free diet.

3. Love at first fold: It’s not just the way it’s made that makes a Neapolitan pizza. Once served, the pizza should be eaten ‘a libretto’ - like a book - for the tastiest and most authentic Italian dining experience.

4. Margherita Mondays: Baker Raffaele Esposito, a 19th century Italian owner of Naples eatery ‘Pizzeria di Pietro e Basta Cosi’ is considered by some to be the founder of the Margherita pizza, having been requested to create a dish for Queen Margherita of Savoy who had travelled to Naples with King Umberto I. Preparing his speciality, Esposito made a pizza using tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, to celebrate the colours of the Italian flag through the ingredients. Famoso celebrates the traditional Margherita every Monday, offering them for $8 each.

5. A ‘pizza’ the action: The pizza that we eat today - dough topped with tomatoes and cheese - was invented in Naples, Italy, hundreds of years ago. Prior to this, the closest thing to what is arguably our nation’s favourite dish, was a flatbread, however these were never topped with tomatoes. Once tomatoes arrived in Europe, and used as a flatbread topping, the pizza was born. Today, Famoso imports all its tomatoes from the region of Campania (of which Naples is the region capital), and hand-mills them before the oven caramelizes them to perfection.

Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria is a growing pizza chain from Western Canada, where a handful of locations is opened. Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of being invited to Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria at the Bloor West location. That location opened in 2012, and has since become a popular spot for pizza in the Annex. Famosa is best known for its authentic Neapolitan style
cuisine, which makes no apology for their creative menu of fusion pizzas. Dean (the owner) runs two locations with his brother, and he is very passionate
about the trade. He explained in details about the journey that they embarked on to bring us this delicate taste of Naples menu that we were
able to sample.

Located on Bloor & Spadina, the restaurant features a decently sized dining area with an open concept kitchen. The interior composed of contemporary rustic décor with warm colours, and dark wood floors. They recently launched a new F/W menu with a small selection of new
items including Mac & Cheese, Korean BBQ Beef Pizza, and Patate
Pancetta Pizza.

We started dinner off with the Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque - roasted Campania tomato soup topped with feta cheese, and served with flatbread. This was one of the highlights of the evening. The bisque was rich with flavor, as the tomatoes hail from Pompeii, Italy. The body of these tomatoes taste stronger, sweeter, and have less acidity in them due to the growing conditions of the volcanic ash that makes up the significant content of the soil. With some added crushed peppers, and Parmesan cheese, the aroma of the bisque was brought to its greatest. Definitely a must order if you want to warm up from the cold weather.

For the main courses, we decided to try out two of their newest pizza
items from their F/W menu. Let’s start with the Patate Pancetta ($16.50) - crème fraîche, rosemary, russet
potatoes, fior-di-latte, mozzarella, pancetta, caramelized onions, sea
salt, white truffle oil, Grana Padano, lemon wedge, topped with a fried
egg. This was a very rich pizza
with an assortment of ingredients including pancetta that is cured
pork belly with similar properties to both prosciutto and bacon. This particular pizza can be considered pretty close to a brunch item, as the center was topped off with a fried egg, garnished with a very
generous portion of caramelized onions, and russet potatoes, white
truffle oil, and fio-di-latte mozzarella. A wedge of lemon was also
provided as a taste only basis.

The second pizza we got was the Korean BBQ Beef ($16.50) - house-made Korean BBQ sauce,
fior-di-latte, house-roasted pulled short ribs, green onions, cheddar
cheese, house-made hoisin sauce, which had a heavy
emphasis on fusion. With a mix of house-made Korean & hoisin sauce, the
pizza was topped with Italian ingredients such as fio-di-latte cheese,
cheddar cheese, and green onions. The pizza was intense with flavor and leaned
towards more of the sweeter side as the bittersweet taste of tomatoes
was absent from this combination. The emphasis on sweet soy and hoisin
was captured instead bringing you one of the more heavier accented
fusions in the menu.

Overall, the dinner experience was great, as we had a nice seat right in front of the wooden stove. We saw chefs prepping the menu, tossing the pizza, and eventually transfer to the 800C oven that will
cook for approximately 90 seconds. The oven was specially-made.

As we talked to the owner, we learned that much of the menu was coordinated with the head office. They would collaborate on menu items, and then it would be streamlined across all locations to allow good control of
the ingredients that are distributed. However, the brothers do have some
personality in their franchises because they are able to develop their
own drink menu catered to the audiences in the Annex area. The owner and
staff are culinary artists, and if you have the pleasure to sit at the
front where the food are being made, be ready to be treated to the faces of the
many artists that are preparing your dishes.

The following dishes were not sampled by us, but rather captured while they were on the counter.

Taverna Mercatto is the latest addition to the Mercatto brand. It opened earlier this February 2015 in the SouthCore Financial Centre. Similarly to all of their other locations, Taverna Mercatto serves Italian food from pastas to pizzas. I was familiar with their food, as I attended an event at their Eaton's Center location last summer. Walking into the restaurant, I was immediately taken by the interior. It was a nice mix of rustic, and trendy decor with an open kitchen. The high ceiling, and lights make it a lovely location for either business matters, or even special occasions. As for the menu, it was small, and I liked that it was, as it shows that they rather keep it simple.

As a starter, I opted for the calamari ($14), and it was one of the best that I have had in years. The calamari was lightly battered, yet it was super crispy, and well-seasoned. Lastly, it was simply garnished with fennel with some garlic crema, which tasted great with the squid.

The Spiedini ($14) - grilled octopus, fregola, panna fresca, tomato, olive tapenade was another appetizer that was ordered. The grilled octopus was tender, but it was slightly lacking some flavor.

All of the pizza sounded tempting, but I opted for the Pepperoni ($19). It was a thin crust pizza topped with fior, padano, red onion, san marzano. There was a generous portion of large slices of pepperoni, and I liked the crispiness of the crust. I'd return to try one of the other pizzas on their menu, as they sounded pretty good.

Over the past few weeks, I have been craving for some pizzas. As a result of my cravings, I ordered pizzas from a few places for delivery or pick-up. I will continue to update this page as I don't think any of them really warrants a long review, as they're either deliveries or pick-ups.

Ciccios Pizza Pasta

Ciccio's Pizza and Pasta is a small family-owned Italian restaurant on Dundas Street W. There's a small counter top inside of the restaurant where you can sit, but a majority of their business comes from pick-up and delivery. J lives rather close by, so this place is pretty much our go-to pizza joint. Most often, we ordered delivery as finding parking on his street can be quite difficult after 10 pm. Delivery costs $1.95, and they're usually pretty good with not exceeding 45 minutes.

Our favorite pizza from here is the 14" Ciccio's Special ($16.50) - pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, sliced tomatoes, bacon, double cheese. What I like about Ciccio's is their consistency in the quality of their pizzas, and it's very filling (8 slices). The pizza itself is pretty well crafted, has a crispy crust, generous amount of toppings, and well-priced.

Costco

My local Costco food court is always packed with hungry consumers. A
popular item on the menu is their pizza slice which you can also order a
whole pie. Costco's pizza is very cost-effective, as a slice is only
$1.99 and a whole pizza is a very affordable $9.99. I opted to order a
whole pizza for my family one night, and got it cooked (you also have
the option of buying it frozen). The pizza was large and more than
enough for 4 people. It was perfectly crisp, cheesy, and contained a
very good amount of pepperoni per slice. They definitely do not skimp out on the pepperoni.

Panago

Panago is a Canadian pizza chain with several locations in Toronto. Panago offer regular, thin, multigrain and gluten-free crusts, a variety of sauces, cheeses and toppings. However, the chain has been a hit and miss for me. At times, the pizza can be absolutely tasty, and other times, it arrives with barely any toppings on the pizza. About three weeks ago, I got the walk-in special which was a medium pepperoni pizza ($9.99). I was happy this time as the pizza was delicious and I loved the gooey cheese.

Pizza Nova

This location in Little Italy is probably one of my favorite Pizza Nova locations. I usually get their medium walk-in special for $8.49 (you can upgrade to a large for an additional $2). The pizza here is very consistent, and the service is friendly.

Domino's Pizza

I have been ordering from Domino's Pizza for years, as I find their pizzas and service to be consistent. The following locations are the two places where I order the most from (when I am uptown and downtown). What I like about the delivery service is the live-meter so that you can track the progress of the cooking/delivery. I haven't had any problems with late deliveries or cold food before.

Longo's

Longo's has a pretty good food selection, including wood-oven pizzas on their menu.

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Author

Welcome to Foodaholic! A Toronto-based food reviews, travel and lifestyle blog. My name is Sandi, and I am a female living in the city of Toronto (Canada). I am also an entrepreneur working in the field of logistics and e-commerce. When I am not working, I enjoy blogging, traveling, reading, taking photos, and of course eating. I started this blog as I am an avid foodie who also loves to travel, and I wanted an outlet to share my personal experiences.

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If you have any questions, suggestions, media inquires, feedback, etc ... please email me at foodaholic12@gmail.com.

Food Rating System

The rating list is based on the estimated price of a meal for one person (including taxes).

$ = Inexpensive, under $15$$ = Moderately affordable, between $15-$25$$$ = Expensive, between $25-$50$$$$ = Very expensive or fine dining, $50 and up

Disclaimer (Reviews)

This was blog was started for the purpose of sharing my opinions of restaurants that I have dined at (or took out delivery). Some of you may have different taste buds or a completely different dining experience than what I've had, and may disagree with my reviews, which is fine. However, please note that all of the reviews featured on this blog are solely based on my dining experience. Thanks :)